A three-dimensionally preserved fossil polychaete worm from the Silurian of Herefordshire, England

Polychaete body fossils are rare, and are almost invariably compressed and too poorly preserved for meaningful comparison with extant forms. We here describe Kenostrychus clementsi gen. et sp. nov. from the Silurian Herefordshire Konservat-Lagerstätte of England, in which three-dimensional external...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2001-11, Vol.268 (1483), p.2355-2363
Main Authors: Sutton, Mark D., Briggs, Derek E.G., Siveter, David J., Siveter, Derek J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cladistics
England Konservat-Lagerstätte
Exceptional Preservation
Fauna
Fossils
Grinding
Insect antennae
Jaw
Kenostrychus clementsi
Marine
Palps
Phylogenetics
Polychaeta
Polychaeta - anatomy & histology
Polychaeta - classification
Polychaete
Silurian
Taxa
United Kingdom
Worms
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Summary:Polychaete body fossils are rare, and are almost invariably compressed and too poorly preserved for meaningful comparison with extant forms. We here describe Kenostrychus clementsi gen. et sp. nov. from the Silurian Herefordshire Konservat-Lagerstätte of England, in which three-dimensional external morphology is preserved with a fidelity unprecedented among fossil polychaetes. The fossils, which are preserved in calcite, were serially ground and photographed at 30 μm intervals to produce computer-generated reconstructions of the original external surface. The new genus has a generalized polychaete morphology with large biramous parapodia, unspecialized anterior segments and a small prostomium with median and lateral antennae and ventral prostomial palps. Cirriform branchiae arise from the ventral surface of each notopodium, and may be homologous with the inter-ramal branchiae of the extant nephtyids. Through cladistic analysis, Kenostrychus is interpreted as a member of a stem group of either the Phyllodocida or the Aciculata (Phyllodocida + Eunicida). Direct comparison with other fossil forms is difficult, but hints that inter-ramal respiratory structures may be primitive within the Phyllodocida and/or the Aciculata
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2001.1788